Yes indeed, carbon offsets themselves are often just accounting trickery, equating things that are unequal.
A carbon pricing scheme/national market quota/cap-and-trade works somewhat, so long as the supply of permitted pollution is made to dwindle over time. It’s a good balance to give polluters time to make investment into less-polluting technology as the price of continuing the way things are is made more expensive, while rewarding firms that reduced their pollution, and being fair to consumers who aren’t one of the major sources of pollution.
Yes indeed, carbon offsets themselves are often just accounting trickery, equating things that are unequal.
A carbon pricing scheme/national market quota/cap-and-trade works somewhat, so long as the supply of permitted pollution is made to dwindle over time. It’s a good balance to give polluters time to make investment into less-polluting technology as the price of continuing the way things are is made more expensive, while rewarding firms that reduced their pollution, and being fair to consumers who aren’t one of the major sources of pollution.
Cap-and-trade is just a less efficient carbon tax, with extra steps.